Even if those guys had armed overwatch, there was a political calculation to not arm the overwatch on that AO at that time.
If US troops or citizens are on the ground with ISR overhead, that ISR should ALWAYS be armed. How many times do we have to learn the same lesson? A deliberate decision to take hellfires off an MQ9 or other assets when that aircraft is headed to support a ground team is criminal command malfeasance in my opinion. If a politician orders it, GOs should resign in protest but the ugly truth is that many GOs issue those restrictions without ever asking to launch aircraft armed.